As some of you are aware, earlier this week I published a post that was chockerblock of full pictures documenting my adventures at CPAC. Well, included in that post were pictures of myself with the hilarious Red Eye guys, the hysterical Stephen Kruiser (who is a frequent guest on Red Eye, as well as the host of the Kruiser Kabana), and the lovely blogger Sarah Rumpf. (See the pictures below.)
[Above is a picture with me and Greg Gutfeld, the host of the Fox show Red Eye.]
[A big thank you to Richard Hornsby for the photo]
This past Wednesday through Saturday, The American Conservative Union sponsored the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC. CPAC was open to all conservative activists who wanted to attend. This year, I had the honor of being a credentialed blogger for CPAC, and, thus, was able to sit in the bloggers’ lounge that was sponsored by Freedom Works. Tabitha Hale, the brains behind the bloggers’ row who put the whole thing together, really outdid herself. (All attendees should participate in a quiet “golf clap” for Tabitha.)
Folks, I had a blast this past week. Seriously, if any of you ever get the opportunity to attend CPAC, I highly suggest going. In fact, there are three very good reasons to attend CPAC next year (or any similar national conservative activist conference in the future). So, without much fanfare and ado, let’s get right to it.
Tuesday night, President Obama gave his State of the Union Address. Then afterward, Republican Congressman Paul Ryan gave the official GOP response to the president’s SOTU address, and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann gave the unofficial Tea Party response. Most in the political world expected fireworks from Ms. Bachmann’s response, but, in the end, her speech proved to be highly unprovocative. In fact, many Republican pundits, like Redstate’s Erick Erickson, wrote that they were pleasantly surprised at how well Congresswoman Bachmann came across. As Da Tech Guy pointed out, on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, there was “not a single word of snark from the panel” when the topic of her speech came up. However, perpetual GOP critic, Meghan McCain, found a way to say something, not just critical of Ms. Bachmann’s speech, but over-the-top and mean-spirited as well. To be specific, Ms. McCain said the following to Laurence O’Donnell when he inquired as to whether Michele Bachmann giving the Tea Party response to the SOTU was “your worst dream come true” :
All politics are not local
Effect of D.C. party policies on the economy outweigh state policies and voting for “the man”
Even as a young Democrat in the 1980s, I disagreed with former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill’s supposed axiom, no matter one’s definition of “local”. Then, as now, Democrats were facing an electorate suffering the consequences of policies enacted by their super-majorities in both houses of Congress and signed into law by their President. Clearly guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of economic and national security malfeasance based upon the relevant facts, one can understand the trial lawyer-like resort to avert the gaze of the jury to “local” facts irrelevant to the job description.
I voted the party as a Democrat from 1980-1998 because I favored liberal policies. Since my 2000 conservative epiphany, I have voted for Republicans because I favor conservative policies. The job of a member of Congress is to vote on issues that affect my wallet and national security.
I base my votes on how they will vote on issues that impact my life and that of the nation, rather than who I “like” as a person; campaign ads; so-called “smarts”; or other irrelevant factors usually even including ethics and character, except for executive positions as will discussed below. I also choose my barber based on how well he cuts my hair rather than on the quality of the patter.
In short, I vote the party, not the man. This is true at the national and state levels, but more so at the national level given the structural constraints of cities and states that can’t print money. Character doesn’t matter so much, it seems to me, in legislative positions given the publishing of laws and recorded votes. Character does matter in executive positions given the discretionary power of such offices.
That said, what matters most are the policies favored by parties as that is what affects our lives directly. Poor policies that wreck the economy or invite aggression for foreign enemies aren’t made more palatable when enacted by “good people” or those we like to watch in TV.
Moreover, I have always considered Presidential and Congressional elections to be much more important than state and local elections due to the determinative effect of national policies on the economy that dwarf the effects of policies of states, given the emasculation of state’s rights and the near all-encompassing power of the federal government since the 1930s.
Rare are the states that can avoid a recession brought on by failed economic policies emanating from Washington.
I said all that to say this: Nothing has been more important to me in politics since 2000 than that the failed liberal policies of the Democratic Party be utterly discredited in the electorate’s mind once and for all, and that they be defeated at the polls.
I converted based on the success of Reagan’s monetary, economic, social and national security policies. When a liberal and a Democrat, it was always clear to me what both parties stood for. I was Democrat because I was a liberal.
These facts are why it is so frustrating to me that so many Americans have had to be re-educated away from the obvious lie that there has been no difference between them except by degrees. I suspect this is the case because of the domination of American politics by the Democrats for most of our history. It is has been the default party for too long. After all, it was good enough for Grandma and America has done all right, or so the thought process may go.
I would argue that America has done all right for so long due due to the conservative movement push backs made increasingly necessary by a JFK-less Democrat Party that started selling its soul to the Left soon after his assassination. Moreover, it seems we have reached a Big Government tipping point this past decade especially since ObamaDems tripled the deficit in two years.
Is the GOP perfect? No, and as a conservative I have to accept that all choices since Eve bit the apple are between lessers of evils. But liberals have made the Democratic Party their home for decades. They aren’t leaving it.
The GOP would be better with a responsible opposition. There has been no responsible opposition party for many years and I think the electorate is beginning to realize this after the past 20 months of rule by leftists.
The path to redemption for the Democratic Party can only be trod after a deserved liberal comeuppance election that is likely next Tuesday.We need good liberals. They are good at spotting fires that need putting out. Its too bad they didn’t declare victory 35 years ago on civil rights and the safety net for the truly needy, rather than going to seed.
The present duty is to rebuke them utterly. I will be voting, with but one or two exceptions for Republicans only, at the local, state and national level. America can only begin to heal after the Democratic Party is rebuked.
The Rule: Vote out the Ds!
Now, I hope my exception proves the rule, as I now lean toward voting for Democrat Roy Barnes for Georgia governor based upon his performance in the office before his re-election defeat soon after the turn of the century; lack of any great differences in policy proposals with Republican Nathan Deal; a general liking of divided government and the fact of a Republican General Assembly in the Peach State; and the fact that Deal has been in Washington for the past 28 years.
But I remain persuadable on this race, so committed to the proposition that party trumps the man. Feel free to persuade me.
Mike DeVine
“One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Charlotte Observer, The Minority Report and Examiner.com archives
I’m sure that by now, most of you have heard about First Lady Michelle Obama’s extravagant Spanish vacation. The story that was on the front page of The Drudge Report for days reported that Mrs. Obama’s trip would cost the tax payers around $75,000 per day (during a recession no less)–not to mention, it had photos of her wearing tight spandex leggings and a revealing, inappropriate top. In fact, Mrs. Obama’s vacation seemed so self-indulgent and over the top, that New York Daily News writer, Andrea Tantaros, called her “a modern day Marie Antoinette”.
Ruth Marcus wrote a column responding to Ms. Tantaros. In her column, Marcus conceded that the optics of Michelle Obama’s Spanish getaway might be less than ideal when she wrote the following–
“Let’s stipulate: A five-star resort on the Spanish Costa del Sol was probably not the first choice of White House spin-meisters for a mother-daughter getaway. Especially when the getaway included a posse of 40 friends of the first lady staying at the Hotel Villa Padierna, where rooms start at $330 a night, and photos of Michelle Obama strolling in Marbella wearing an off-the-shoulder number by Jean Paul Gaultier.”
[For the record, that John Paul Gaultier top probably cost over $2000.]
However, Marcus concludes her column by stating that we are all being a little hard on Mrs. Obama, and that maybe we should “give the First Lady a break”.
Well, I might tend to agree with Ms. Marcus if this had been Michelle Obama’s first foray into ridiculous behavior–however, it most certainly is not. Furthermore, if you will all bear with me, I am prepared to bring forth a plethora of evidence that spans back over two years in order to prove–beyond any reasonable doubt–that Mrs. Obama has gone out of her way to deliberately cultivate the image of a spoiled, entitled brat. Read the rest of this entry »
“I got a lot of problems with you people, and now, you’re gonna hear about it!!”
The above quote was uttered by Frank Costanza, the father of George Costanza of Seinfeld fame. Costanza invented the holiday Festivus, because he wanted to remove the traditional and commercial aspects of Christmas. Instead of a traditional Christmas tree, there is simply an aluminum pole. (Mr. Costanza said that he found tinsel to be “distracting”.) And, instead of a traditional Christmas dinner, there is the “airing of grievances” where you tell all of your friends and family how much they have disappointed you over the last year. And finally, at the end of the evening, there are the “feats of strength” where you attempt to pin one of your friends or family members to the floor. (See embed below for the story of Festivus.) Read the rest of this entry »
OK–we’ve all seen small children put their hands over their ears and wail when they are told something that they don’t want to hear, like “eat your vegetables” or “take your medicine”. However, this is quite strange behavior to behold in adult journalists who work for mainstream media outlets. Now granted, anyone who reads newspapers, and doesn’t live under a rock, is somewhat aware that there is a left-wing tilt to the MSM. For instance, there have been the recent embarrassments involving the infamous JournoList–a sophomoric clique of left-wing journalists and bloggers. And, most people are aware that the MSM has a tendency to throw a fit whenever anything negative is said about President Obama or his Administration.
But now, it’s come to this. A few days ago, Megyn Kelly broke a huge story on Fox News where she interviewed former Department of Justice attorney, J. Christian Adams. Adams has blown the whistle on the Obama Administration’s DOJ for dismissing the infamous voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers, after he had already won the case (the Black Panthers never even showed up in court to answer the charges). Adams claimed that the main reason why the DOJ didn’t want to prosecute the Panthers was for racial reasons. Now, one would think that this would be an explosive story and that the mainstream media would be all over this, but instead they are like a toddler putting his fingers in his ears when he is told to eat his vegetables.
[This diary is my reporting on Tim Scott's Tuesday night victory party. I'm sorry that it's so late, but I had a medical board exam on Thursday and Friday that I had to travel to Atlanta, GA to take, and I just got back late Saturday night.]
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| From 2010-06-27 |
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| From 2010-06-27 |
As many of you are aware, I recently wrote a diary titled, “Tim Scott MUST Win–This Is Not Negotiable!”. In this diary, I explained that if Tim Scott lost to Paul Thurmond (in the SC District 1 Republican Primary), it would be disastrous for the state of South Carolina, and for the Republican Party. Why? Because the spectacle of a more qualified, more conservative, more charismatic African-American candidate losing to an unqualified guy named “Thurmond” (and I realize that this might not be entirely fair to Paul Thurmond, but who said that life was fair?) would be just too big of a spectacle for us to overcome. Furthermore, in this diary, I explained that, the MSM was closely watching this race. Also, I mentioned that the mocking and humiliation that SC received with regard to the Nikki Haley circus, via Jon Stewart and the rest of the MSM, would be cubed if Tim Scott lost to Paul Thurmond. (See embed below–go to 4:30 in to see SC bit. H/T Allahpundit of Hot Air.)
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Thank You, South Carolina – The Race to Replace Disgrace | ||||
| www.thedailyshow.com | ||||
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To be specific, I wrote that the MSM would take us down like a hungry cheetah taking down a gazelle if we elected Paul Thurmond over Tim Scott.
As some of you may know, I have written previously, in great detail, about how prevalent liberal indoctrination of our children is in the public schools across America.
Wait, what’s that you say liberals? There is no liberal indoctrination of children going on in the public schools? OK—well then, I would like to kindly ask that you please take a look at a Live Wire that I recently wrote that had videos of and links to multiple stories about children being told that drawing the American flag is “offensive”, children being sent home from school for wearing the American flag, children being browbeaten by teachers for saying that they supported John McCain, children being forced to draw pro-Obama campaign art, and, finally, children being forced to chant accolades to “The One” (“MMM—Barack Hussein Obama”).
OK–as many of you are aware, I recently wrote a diary about a congressional candidate from Charleston, SC (my hometown) by the name of Tim Scott. Tim Scott is running for Congress to represent the 1st district of SC in the US House of Representatives. The Republican Primary took place on June the 8th and Tim Scott won with 32% of the vote, followed by Paul Thurmond who took in 16% of the vote. Tim Scott will now face Paul Thurmond in a run-off in less than two weeks. (There were a total of nine candidates running in the District 1 Republican Primary, so it was inevitable that there was going to be a run-off, because it would be close to impossible for any of those candidate to get to 51%.)
So, now that we are are down to the wire, I thought that I would play a little game of compare and contrast with the resumes of the final two candidates.
Tim Scott has served thirteen years on the Charleston County Council–and, he has been in the SC House of Representatives for the last two years where he is currently the first black Republican state legislator since Reconstruction. Mr. Scott has impeccable conservative credentials, because he is just one of eleven candidates to have been endorsed by The Club for Growth (who also endorsed Marco Rubio and Pat Toomey). Michael Barone also acknowledged that Tim Scott was the most conservative candidate in the SC District One race, when he wrote the following–
“Interestingly, Haley is the daughter of Sikh immigrants from India. If elected governor she would be the second Republican governor of a Southern state, after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, to be the child of immigrants from South Asia. Who’d a thunk it? And when you’re putting your mind around that, consider that the leader in the Republican primary for the open South Carolina 1 seat relinquished by retiree Henry Brown is Tim Scott, who may be the most conservative and assuredly is the only black Republican in the South Carolina legislature. He led Paul Thurmond, son of the late Governor and Senator Strom Thurmond, by a 31%-16% margin; in third place with 14% was Carroll Campbell, son of the late Congressman and Governor Carroll Campbell.”
Actually, Tim Scott won by 32%, but the rest is correct.
Now, as far as charisma goes, Tim Scott has it to spare–in fact, he has it oozing out of every pore. I have embedded two videos below of Tim Scott. The first one is his excellent advertisement that points out that he wrote the anti-Obamacare legislation in the SC House of Representatives. The second video is of a speech that Mr. Scott made before RNC members in Myrtle Beach, SC–and it is just made of awesome (watch the first 12 minutes of it if you don’t have time to watch the entire thing–that should be enough to give you an idea of who Mr. Scott is and what he is about).
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